Verstappen on pole for the sprint race as Piastri gives him a fright

Max Verstappen will start Saturday's sprint race in Belgium from pole position. The Red Bull driver was once again the fastest on the Spa-Franchorchamps circuit, and this time will retain his P1 position because his grid penalty will be applied for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri continued his fine performance this weekend with P2. Carlos Sainz rounded out the top three. His Ferrari teammate will start from 4th.

The slick tyres were used during the final part of the shootout. Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly and Oscar Piastri all spent time at the top of the leaderboard in the final part of qualifying, but it was Verstappen who made the difference when it mattered most. He qualified on pole by just 0.011 seconds to Piastri.

Lance Stroll crashed out in SQ2. The Aston Martin driver proved that the circuit wasn't ready for the dry tyre, and he ended up in the wall. The knock-on effect meant that his teammate didn't get to complete a lap, and the mechanics now have to rush to repair the car for the sprint race.

The first part of the shootout started 35 minutes late due to the rain. The FIA deemed it unsafe and waited for the circuit to dry. Rain is in the air for the rest of Saturday, but the sprint race is expected to be dry at this stage. Mercedes were first in the queue again for the start of the shootout. All drivers opted to start with the intermediates, given the amount of track drying performed by the tractors.

Most drivers had plenty of fuel and could therefore keep blasting around. As the fuel and amount of water reduced, lap times increased. Sainz became the first driver to go under the two-minute mark. With two minutes remaining in the session, Lando Norris found himself in the drop zone. He was joined by both Haas drivers, Lance Stroll and Logan Sargeant. Hulkenberg failed to make it across the line for his first and final flying lap.

George Russell plummeted down the standings and survived in P15 by less than one-tenth. The Haas drivers remained in the bottom five and were joined by both Alfa Romeo cars. Yuki Tsunoda rounded out those places.

There was less of a rush for the start of the second part. Intermediates were still being selected by all of the drivers as sunshine, and a blue sky looked down on the track. Stroll became the first driver to roll the dice on the medium tyres, and he ended up crashing into the barrier at the corner with no name. The red flag came out, so his Aston Martin teammate couldn't escape the drop zone. Those two Aston Martin drivers were joined by both Williams cars and Daniel Ricciardo.